Presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Peter Obi, has insisted that education and healthcare remained the bedrock upon which every prosperous nation is built.
Obi, former governor of Anambra, stated this in a post on his X account, yesterday when he released his part two of the roadmap to a New Nigeria.
He said: “Recall that on July 1, in Part one of my vision for a productive and prosperous Nigeria, I outlined the broad framework of my proposed roadmap for national renewal.
“In it, I emphasised that the transformation of Nigeria must begin with rebuilding our human capital through quality education and healthcare.
“These will be supported by reforms in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), character and civic education, and strategic investments that will move our nation from a consumption-driven economy to a production-driven one.”
Obi said he promised to follow up with other parts in the coming weeks and months.
“Today, July 16, in the middle of July, I wish to expand on these two critical pillars, education and healthcare, ” he wrote.
According to Obi, the two constitute the bedrock upon which every prosperous nation is built, adding that they are the cornerstones of the foundation that will ensure that a son of nobody can become somebody.
He said that evidence from around the world showed that quality education and accessible healthcare were among the clearest distinctions between thriving nations and lagging ones.
He explained that when education is combined with good health, it provides the ladder for individual upward mobility and drives economic growth for the nation.
“We must become more intentional about aligning education with our national priorities, as Singapore did, and challenge our country to value education.
“We will work through commissions that strengthen collaboration among the tiers of government, ensuring that primary education is domiciled at the community and local government levels.
“State governments will be supported to expand high-quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), as well as general secondary education, through targeted grants and incentives. ”
He said he was also developing schemes that would enable universities to focus more deliberately on specialised areas of teaching and research.
“This will make the universities globally competitive while producing a workforce equipped for demands of the future,” he added.
(The Sun)